Cinco de Mayo Celebration May 4 at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center
OutdoorHub 04.22.13
The Athens community will celebrate the joint heritage of Texas and Mexico with a day of dance, food and fishing at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center on Saturday, May 4.
The event will feature performances of traditional Mexican dances in the Hart-Morris Conservation Center beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Blackland Prairie Raptor Center will present a hawks and owls show at 1:00 p.m. Athens area restaurants will compete in a salsa contest, which will be judged at 2:30 p.m. See a complete schedule below.
All Cinco de Mayo activities are included with regular admission to TFFC.
Highlights of the dance performances include appearances by Tyler Ballet Folklorico, Athens area elementary students and Las Tapatias, Athens’ own folkloric dance group.
The Blackland Prairie Raptor Center will do walk-around displays of birds including owls and hawks throughout the day. Visitors will be able to see the birds at close range and learn about their abilities and habits.
El San Luis Restaurant will serve food in the Hart-Morris Conservation Center.
Athens High School Key Club and National Honors Society students will be decorating the facility and volunteering during the event.
Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the joint heritage and history of Texas and Mexico. It honors an important victory of the Mexican army, led by Texas native Ignacio Zaragoza, over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The victory helped preserve Mexican independence.
More information on Zaragoza can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Zaragoza.
Sponsors of the event include Red Hat Rentals, Schneider Electric, FutureMatrix, Inc., First State Bank, Texas Trust Credit Union, Citizens National Bank, Aaron’s Sales and Lease, Mark Roberts DDS and Friends of TFFC.
Schedule of Events
- 11:30am Tyler Ballet Folklorico adult dance performance
- 12:00pm Dance performances by Athens ISD students and Las Tapatias
- 12:30pm Tyler Ballet Folklorico children’s dance performance
- 1:00pm Blackland Raptor Center Hawks and Owls presentation
- 1:30pm Athens ISD students dance performance
- 2:00pm Tyler Ballet Folklorico regional dances performance
- 2:30pm Salsa contest judging and Las Tapatias dance performance
For more information on the event contact James Booker at (903) 670-2266, james.booker@tpwd.state.tx.us. Se habla español.
